Catfish Out of Water

One of my favorite things to do after the holidays is to figure out how to turn everything leftover into a new and exciting meal! As much as it's fun for a couple of days to be eating absolutely enormous amounts of Quiche w/ Spinach, Ricotta, Pecans & White Wine and Macaroni & Cheese w/ Gruyère & White Wine? It does get a little bit repetitive over time. Which leads me to the oh-so-fun tradition of figuring out what other dishes can be made with what is left in the refrigerator. Hence the Christmas nachos made out of potato and pecan quiche!

I like to turn a lot of leftover dishes into nachos or burritos. They're one of my favorite foods. So, it's actually not much of a surprise that I'm turning quiche into nachos. I've found that most things can be paired with a starch and drowned in cheese. The same kind of principle applies when making pasta or casseroles.

Gallery

Variations of Christmas Nachos

Holiday leftovers are one of my favorite things to make new meals out of. There's no better opportunity for making fun and interesting dishes than when you already have a ton of food lying around! And, after a few days of eating the exact same meal over and over again? You're going to wish that you had some other options.

Independent Christmas 2021

Christmas Leftover Burrito w/ Pumpkin Rice & Mashed Potatoes

Thanksgiving Leftover Burrito w/ Lentils & Runny Egg

Nachos w/ Spinach, Potato & Pecan Quiche

These Christmas nachos are made from leftover potato, spinach, sharp cheddar cheese, dry white wine, milk, ricotta, and pecan quiche. One of the simplest ways to repurpose meals that you already have lying around is to turn them into nachos! Most leftovers sprinkled on top of tortilla chips and drowned in cheese turn out to be an absolutely fabulous idea. Top off with a little bit of sour cream and hot sauce? And you've got yourself an entirely new and delicious dish.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Total Time 20 minutes mins

Course Breakfast, Main Course

Cuisine American, French, Latin American, Mexican

Servings 2 servings

Equipment

• Baking Sheet
• Oven

Ingredients

  

Spinach, Potato & Pecan Quiche

• 3 Yukon gold potatoes sliced
• 1/2 lbs. spinach chopped
• 1/2 c. sharp cheddar cheese or parmesan
• 1 c. pecans crushed
• 10 eggs
• 3 cloves garlic minced
• 1 tbsp. dijon mustard
• 1/4 c. dry white wine (I used sauvignon blanc)
• 1/4 c. milk (I used whole)
• 1/2 c. ricotta
• dash salt
• dash pepper

Nachos

• ~1/3 c. quiche (1 slice)
• ~2 handfulls tortilla chips
• 1/2 c. cheddar cheese grated
• dollop sour cream
• dollop hot sauce (optional)

Instructions

 

Prepare Ingredients

• Cook Quiche w/ Spinach, Ricotta, Pecans & White Wine. This takes about an hour and requires a baking dish and oven. You can easily toss any leftovers that you have on hand into a burrito for the same kind of effect! It's a great way to put a spin on leftovers and make what seems like an entirely new meal.

Cook Nachos

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Meanwhile, lay out tortilla chips across a baking sheet.

  Cover until you can't see the baking sheet any longer. They should be touching, but not overlapping too much. You really just want to be able to add toppings to every chip without it getting too much on the baking sheet!

  Exactly how much chips you use is largely a matter of personal preference as well. I've never sat there carefully measuring chips! Roughly two handfuls usually equates to about a serving. I tend to cook far more than I actually need, though. So, as always, adjust to personal preference!
• Spread the toppings evenly across the tortilla chips.
• Sprinkle with cheddar cheese and sour cream.
• Bake for 15 minutes, or until the cheese melts and the chips begin to toast.
• Once the nachos are done cooking, remove from the oven and top with avocado dip and hot sauce.
• Serve immediately. Once the nachos begin to cool down, the tortilla chips will absorb too much moisture and soften. Once this happens, there isn't a lot that you can do to crisp them up again!

Tips, Tricks, & Notes

• I also have an entire article on The Fundamentals of Making Nachos with suggestions on settling the microwave vs. oven debate and give tips on serving size, topping order, and potential ways of reheating.